November 2023 Care & Closure Monthly Newsletter

A Message from our Care & Closure Project Team

Care & Closure: a plan for youth healing, accountability, and community safety. This is King County’s effort to expand community-based alternatives to secure youth detention and close the youth detention center – centered on youth well-being and care, accountability, and community safety. We share project updates and upcoming opportunities to be involved in the effort each month. 

Join the Advisory Committee Meeting Mark your calendar for our next Advisory Committee meeting on Monday, November 20. The meeting will be the last Advisory Committee meeting of 2023 and will focus on the recommendations for community-based alternatives needed to support youth healing, accountability, and community safety. The meeting will be virtual and open to the public. You can find more information about the meeting and previous meetings on the Care & Closure website.

Executive Constantine Met with Impacted Youth, Families, and Detention Staff 

Executive Constantine and members of his team visited the secure youth detention center at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center on Wednesday, November 15. During his visit, the Executive met with detention staff and joined a listening session with youth in detention. He then met with a small group of impacted youth and their families to hear their experiences in detention and how community-based alternatives to secure youth detention can support healing, accountability, and community safety.  

Community Partnerships Help Foster Feedback Throughout this project, we’ve partnered with and funded community organizations that support impacted youth, families, and harmed parties to elevate their input and center their experiences. We continued to partner with Progress Pushers, Win Regardless, and Pro Se Potential to convene feedback sessions with impacted youth and families on emerging recommendations.   We also hosted five additional feedback sessions with impacted youth, family members, and harmed parties that provided input earlier this year to make sure they had an opportunity to provide additional input on recommendations. You can learn more about what impacted community members are saying on our website.

Follow Us on Instagram Do you follow the King County Department of Community & Human Services (DCHS) Instagram account? Check out our latest posts about the work we do in our department. This includes Care and Closure Highlights with quotes from youth in detention, information about King county’s Commitment, and more! Follow DCHS to stay informed.